Mauricio Peña

Mauricio Peña designed and coordinated the arts administration curriculum for the undergraduate program and the non-degree certificate program in Arts Administration at Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Bogota, and has taught courses in the Arts Administration programs at Colegio Mayor del Rosario and Universidad Externado, in Bogota. He holds the B.A. in Music Performance and International Affairs from the University of New Hampshire, the M.A. in Arts Administration from Columbia University, and the MBA with a marketing concentration from Universidad de los Andes in Bogota.

Peña has been at the forefront of some of Colombia’s most important music institutions and projects. As head of the music division of Colombia’s central bank, Banco de la República, he was responsible for the artistic planning and administrative leadership of the country’s preeminent chamber music venue – the Luis Ángel Arango Library’s recital hall. During his tenure, he deepened the relationship of the concert season with local composers by strengthening the organization’s chamber music commissioning program, formalizing its recording series focused on Colombian chamber music, and creating a new annual young composers program.

Prior to this work, Peña advised the Colombian Ministry of Culture during its search for an artistic director and principal conductor for the Colombian National Symphony Orchestra and subsequently worked as artistic administrator and education coordinator for said ensemble. During his work with the orchestra, Peña proposed the creation of the International Symphonic Festival, an event that – over the course of five years – celebrated the power and versatility of symphonic music and introduced Colombian audiences to modern orchestral repertoire, world-class soloists and to musical collaborations between the orchestra and pop and traditional musicians.

More recently Peña headed his own artist management agency, MPC Music Management, and consulted for and curated concerts and concert series for the Foreign Affairs Ministry of Colombia and other organizations. He co-directs the annual chamber music series, Sonidos & Sentidos, which features musicians residing in Colombia who perform classical repertoire along with Latin American and Colombian works.

Other relevant positions have included heading the city of Bogota’s Culture, Recreation, and Sports Bureau’s music projects division, working as executive director of the Bogota Philharmonic Orchestra, and working in the development department at New York City Opera.